A Forever Family: Their Doorstep Delivery

Chapter Seven

The library didn’t spend much money to advertise the Book & Bake Sale, relying mostly on word of mouth to draw people to the event. As Cassie looked around the crowds gathered at the tables and milling on the sidewalk, she was satisfied the strategy had succeeded.

She wandered over to the children’s tent—always one of the more popular sections—where, in addition to the books and games and toys for sale, balloon animals were being made and happy faces were being painted. Chloe, a straight-A student and an incredible artist, was turning boys and girls into various jungle animals and superheroes, and the lineup for this transformation seemed endless. While Cassie was there, a pint-size dark-haired toddler came racing toward her, baring tiny white teeth. “Raar!”

In response to the growl, Cassie hunkered down to the child’s level. “Well, who is this?” she asked, peering closely at the little girl’s face. “She looks a little bit like Saige and a lot like a scary lion.”

“Raar!” Saige said again, then held out the train in her hand for Cassie’s perusal.

“What have you got there?”

“Choo-choo.”

She glanced at Braden. “Daddy finally caved and bought you a train, did he?”

Though the little girl probably didn’t understand all of the words, she nodded enthusiastically.

“Not Daddy, Grandma,” he corrected. “My mother spoils her rotten.”

“If that was true, she’d be rotten and she’s not,” Ellen Garrett protested as she joined them. “In fact, she’s so sweet I could gobble her right up.” Then she scooped up her granddaughter and pretended to nibble on her shoulder, making Saige shriek with laughter.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you indulge her every whim,” Braden pointed out.

“Unfortunately, I can’t give her what she really needs,” his mother said.

He sighed. “Mom.”

The single word was a combination of wariness and warning that gave Cassie the distinct impression she was in the middle of a familiar argument between the son and his mother.

“But I can give her a cookie,” Ellen said, apparently heeding the warning.

“Kee?” Saige echoed hopefully.

Braden nodded. “One cookie,” he agreed. “And then I need to get her home for her nap.”

“I can take her back to my house,” Ellen offered.

“You already had her for most of the morning,” he pointed out.

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t spend more time with my granddaughter?”

“You know there isn’t,” he said. “And you know how much I appreciate everything you do for us.”

Cassie kept her attention on Saige, quietly entertaining the little girl with the “Handful of Fingers” song while her father and grandmother sorted out their plans.

“Then maybe you could do something for me,” his mother suggested.

“Of course,” he agreed readily.

“Stick around here to help Cassie with the cleanup—and make sure she gets something to eat.”

“Oh, that isn’t necessary,” Cassie interjected. “We have plenty of volunteers.”

“But you can always use extra hands,” Braden reminded her of the statement she’d made only a few hours earlier.

“That’s settled then,” Ellen said happily. “Come on, Saige. Let’s go get that cookie.”

Braden stole a hug and a kiss from his daughter before he let her head off to the bake table with her grandmother.

“You really don’t have to stay,” Cassie told him. “You’ve already done so much to help.”

“I do need to stay—my mother said so.”

She smiled at that. “Do you always do what your mother tells you to?”

“Usually,” he acknowledged. “Especially when it’s what I want to do, anyway.”

“There must be something else you’d rather do with your Saturday.”

“You don’t think supporting a community fund-raiser for the local library is good use of my time?” he countered.

“You’re deliberately misunderstanding me.”

“And you’re tiptoeing around the question you really want to ask,” he told her.

“You’re right,” she agreed, a teasing glint in her eye. “What I really want to know is why you got arrested.”

He frowned. “Why would you think I was arrested?”

“Because your sudden determination to volunteer seems like a community service thing to me,” she told him.

He chuckled at that. “You really do have a suspicious mind, don’t you?”

“Not suspicious so much as skeptical,” she told him.

“I wanted to help out,” he said. “Although yes, I did have an ulterior motive.”

“I knew it.”

“To spend some time with you,” he said, and slung a companionable arm across her shoulders. “Now let’s go see if there’s anything left at the bake table.”

“There’s probably not much more than crumbs,” she warned. “I know for a fact that all of Mrs. Bowman’s muffins were gone within the first half hour.”

“How many of those did you take?”

“Four.”

He lifted his brows. “Two were my breakfast,” she explained. “I took the other two for Irene and Jerry.”

“And none for me,” he lamented.

“Sorry.”

“You can make it up to me by going out with me for some real food when this is over and done,” he suggested.

“Are you asking me on a date?”

“I am,” he confirmed.

“Then I’m sorry to have to decline,” she said. “Because the only reason half these kids are here to help with the takedown is that they know I always get pizza and soda for the volunteers when we’re done.”

“Does that mean I get to hang around for pizza and soda?”

“Only if you stop slacking and get back to work,” she told him.

He grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”

Cassie couldn’t fault his work ethic. Braden did what he was told and with a lot less grumbling than she got from some of the teens who were helping out. He might spend his days sitting behind a desk, but he didn’t look soft. In fact, the way his muscles bunched and flexed while he worked, he looked pretty darn mouthwatering and close to perfect.

And if she felt uncomfortable that he was hanging around, well, that was on her. He’d done absolutely nothing to suggest that his reasons for being there weren’t as simple and straightforward as he claimed. But every once in a while, she’d catch a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye, and she’d feel a little tingle course through her veins. Or she’d find him looking at her and he’d smile, unashamed to be caught staring, and her heart would flutter inside her chest as if she was a teenage girl. And maybe being surrounded by so many fifteen-to-seventeen year-olds was the reason for her immature and emotional response to the man.

“Is everything okay, Miss Mac?”

She dragged her attention away from Braden to focus on Ethan Anderson—a senior honor student and first-string football player. “Of course, Ethan.”

“Who’s the old guy hanging around?”

She couldn’t help but smile at that. Not because Braden was old but because she understood that to most teens anyone over thirty was ancient—a status she was close to attaining herself. “Braden Garrett,” she said. “His daughter is in a couple of the preschool programs.”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

“No,” she said quickly, unexpectedly flustered by the question.

“Then why is he here?” Ethan wanted to know.

“To help out,” she said. “Just like everyone else.”

“He’s keeping a closer eye on you than anyone else,” the teen noted.

“The tables,” she reminded him, attempting to shift his attention back to the task at hand.

“You told me to keep this one set up for the pizza.”

“Oh. Right.”

Ethan eyed her speculatively, his lips curving. “Maybe he’s not your boyfriend, but you like him, don’t you?”

“What?” She pretended not to understand what he was asking, but she suspected the flush in her cheeks proved otherwise.

“I just noticed that you’re keeping a pretty close eye on him, too,” he remarked.

“It’s my responsibility to keep an eye on all of the volunteers,” she reminded him.

“So why haven’t you told Cade and Jake to stop fooling around?”

She hadn’t even noticed that the fifteen-year-old twins were roughhousing on the other side of the room until Ethan directed her gaze in that direction. “Cade, Jake,” she called out. “If you don’t stop fooling around, I won’t sign off on your volunteer hours.”

Cade reluctantly released his brother from his headlock and Jake took his elbow out of his twin’s side.

Ethan’s smile only widened.

Thankfully, before he could say anything else, Tanya announced that the pizza had arrived. While she and Chloe got out the drinks and plates and napkins, Cassie took out the money she’d tucked into her pocket. But when she looked up again, the delivery guy was already halfway back to his car.

“I didn’t pay him,” Cassie said, frowning.

“I did,” Braden told her.

“You didn’t have to do that—I’ve got the money right here.”

But he shook his head when she tried to give it to him. “I’m beginning to suspect this might be the only way I ever get to buy you dinner.”

Before she could respond, the volunteers descended on the boxes.

“You better grab a slice while you can,” she told him.

He nodded and reached for a plate.

Although Braden knew this wasn’t quite what his mother had in mind when she asked him to make sure that Cassie got something to eat, he was glad he’d stayed. Not only to lend a hand but to see her interact with the teen group. Although she was an authority figure, he could tell that they didn’t just respect her, they genuinely liked her. And they were undoubtedly curious about who he was and why he was hanging around.

There was a lot of talk and laughter while everyone chowed down. The kids were an eclectic group: there was the good girl, the jock, the geek, the cheerleader, the artist. They probably didn’t interact much at school, if their paths crossed at all, but here they were all—if not friends—at least friendly.

“Who’s the kid in the red hoodie with the fat lip and angry glare?” he asked.

“That’s Kevin,” Cassie told him. “An eleventh grader at Southmount.”

“What’s his story?”

She looked at him curiously. “Why do you think he has any more of a story than any of the other kids here?”

“The way you look at him—like you understand what he’s all about,” he said.

“He hangs out at the library because he’s got four younger siblings at home, it’s not all that difficult to understand,” she told him.

Maybe not, but he suspected it wasn’t quite that simple, either. “What happened to his lip?”

She shrugged. “How would I know?”

But her deliberately casual tone made him suspect that she did know—and wasn’t nearly as unconcerned as she wanted him to believe.

“Does he get knocked around at home?” he asked quietly.

“Again—how would I know?”

But he saw it, just a flicker in her eyes, before she answered. And he realized that not only did she know, she’d been there. Who? When? These questions and more clamored for answers, but he knew this wasn’t the time and place. Instead, he reached for another slice of pizza.

When everyone had eaten their fill, Cassie wrapped up the extra slices and discreetly slipped them into certain backpacks. After the food was cleared away, the teens started to head out.

Braden noticed that Ethan was the last to leave—after carrying the sole remaining table to the library basement, and even then he seemed reluctant to go.

“Are you sure you don’t need anything else, Miss Mac?” the teen asked Cassie.

“I’m sure,” she said. “Thanks for all of your help today.”

“Anytime,” Ethan said.

“So long as it’s before June, right?” Cassie said. “After you graduate, you’ll be throwing a football at college somewhere.”

“Ohio State University,” he told her proudly. “I’m going to be a Buckeye.”

“Congratulations, Ethan. That’s wonderful news.”

“I’m glad you think so—Alyssa isn’t so thrilled.”

“Because she’s got another year of high school before she goes off to college,” Cassie acknowledged. “But I know she’s proud of you.”

Ethan checked his phone, grimaced. “And she’s going to be annoyed with me if I’m late picking her up for our date tonight.”

“Then you should get going,” she advised.

He nodded, casting a sidelong glance toward Braden before he headed out. “Have a good night, Miss Mac.”

“I don’t think your football player likes me,” Braden noted.

“He doesn’t know you,” Cassie clarified, heading into the building.

He followed. “And he’s very protective of you.”

“He does have a protective nature,” she agreed. “But he’s a good kid.” She sighed when she saw the empty boxes all over the basement but didn’t say anything else as she picked one up and broke it apart.

Braden picked up another and did the same. “I noticed most of the kids call you Miss Mac.”

“They like nicknames.”

But he knew it was more than that—it was a sign of acceptance and camaraderie. “I wonder if anyone ever considered giving Miss Houlahan a nickname,” he mused. “How does ‘Hoolie’ sound?”

“Not very flattering,” she said, but he could tell she was fighting a smile.

He grinned. “You don’t think she’d like it?”

“I think you like to rile Miss Houlahan,” she said, continuing to collapse the empty boxes.

“She was all about the rules and I was never a big fan of them,” he explained.

“Your tune will change in a few years,” Cassie warned him. “When your daughter grows up and boys start coming around.”

“Nah, I’ll just put a padlock on her bedroom door,” he decided.

“And then she’ll sneak out her bedroom window,” she warned.

“Is that what you did when you wanted to go out with a guy you knew your father wouldn’t approve of?”

She shook her head. “My dad died when I was ten.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It was a long time ago,” she said.

“Still, I imagine that losing a parent isn’t an experience you forget about after a few years.”

“No,” she agreed. “But you shouldn’t worry that Saige will be scarred by the loss of her mother—she’s obviously happy and well loved.”

“I wasn’t thinking about Saige but about you,” he told her.

“It was a long time ago,” she said again.

She’d left only the biggest box intact and now stuffed the folded cardboard inside of it. “Thanks for your help today. We usually have a good number of volunteers, but the kids sometimes forget why they’re here, so it was nice to have another adult around to keep them on task.”

“You have an interesting group of kids,” he said, turning his attention to stacking the stray chairs with the others that lined the wall. “I couldn’t help but notice that they come from several different area high schools.”

She nodded. “We advertise our programs widely—in all the schools and at local rec centers—to ensure all students are aware of our programs. For the most part, the ones who come here want the same thing, so they don’t bring their issues or rivalries inside.”

“That’s impressive,” he said. “Kids usually carry their grudges wherever they go.”

“Only kids?” she challenged, doing a final visual scan of the basement.

“No.” He breached the short distance that separated them. “But most adults have better impulse control.”

She tipped her head back to meet his gaze. “You think so?”

“Usually,” he clarified.

And then he gave in to his own impulses and kissed her.

Cassie was caught completely unaware.

One minute they were having a friendly conversation while they tidied up the basement storage area, and the next, his mouth had swooped down on hers.

In that first moment of contact, her heart stuttered and her mind went blank. And somehow, without even knowing what she was doing, she wound her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

It was all the encouragement Braden needed. He slid his hands around her back, drawing her closer. Close enough that her breasts grazed his chest, making her nipples tighten and the nerves in her belly quiver.

She was suddenly, achingly aware that it had been more than two years since she’d had sex. Twenty-eight months since she’d experienced the thrill of tangling the sheets with a man. For most of that time, she hadn’t missed the sharing of physical intimacy. Truth be told, she’d barely thought about it.

But she was definitely thinking about it now.

Braden tipped her head back and adjusted the angle of his mouth on hers, taking his time to deepen the kiss and explore her flavor. Her fingers tangled in the silky ends of his hair, holding on to him as the world tilted on its axis. She sighed and his tongue delved between her parted lips to dance with hers in an erotically enticing rhythm.

He was turning her inside out with a single kiss, obliterating her ability to think. And she needed to think. She needed to be smart. And inviting this man to her home, to her bed, would not be smart.

But it would feel good.

If the man made love even half as masterfully as he kissed, she had no doubt that it would feel really good.

She forced herself to push that taunting, tempting thought aside, and to finally, reluctantly, push him away, too.

“What...” She took a moment to catch her breath. “What was that?”

“I think that’s what happens when you try to douse a flame with gasoline,” he said, sounding a little breathless himself.

“Explosive.”

He nodded. “And proof that the chemistry between us hasn’t fizzled. You’re a dangerous woman, Cassie MacKinnon.”

“Me? You’re the one who started the fire.”

“You’re the first woman I’ve kissed in fifteen months,” he admitted. “You’re the only woman—aside from my wife—that I’ve kissed in eight years.”

The ground was starting to feel a little more stable beneath her feet, but her heart was still struggling to find a normal rhythm. “That might explain why your technique is a little rusty.”

But her unsteady tone belied her words, and his smile widened. “I’d be happy to show you a few other unpracticed talents.”

She put her hand on his chest, holding him at a distance. “Maybe another time.”

“Is that an invitation or a brush-off?” he asked.

She blew out a breath. “I’m not sure.”

Chapter Eight

Several hours later, Braden couldn’t stop thinking about the scorching hot kiss he’d shared with the sexy librarian.

Finally back home after picking Saige up from his parents’ house and settling her into her crib, he sat down in front of the television as he did on so many other nights. Impulsively, he picked up the remote, clicked off the power and picked up the book he’d borrowed from the library.

But half an hour later, he hadn’t turned a single page. He couldn’t focus on the words because he couldn’t stop thinking about Cassie. He closed the cover and set it aside.

Maybe he shouldn’t have kissed her.

Maybe he shouldn’t have stopped kissing her.

Maybe he should have his head examined.

Definitely he should have his head examined.

He wasn’t accustomed to indecision. He was a Garrett—and Garretts didn’t vacillate. Garretts set goals and devised clear strategies to get what they wanted.

Braden wanted Cassie, and he didn’t doubt that she wanted him, too. But while he was confident that taking her to bed would satisfy their most immediate and basic needs, he knew that he had to think about what would happen after.

He wanted sex. After sleeping alone for more than fifteen months, he desperately wanted the blissful pleasure of joining together with a warm, willing woman. But he wanted more than that, too. One of the things he missed most about being married was the companionship—having someone to talk with about his day, someone to eat dinner with and watch TV with. Someone to snuggle with at night—not necessarily as a prelude to sex but as an affirmation that he wasn’t alone in the world.

Oh, who was he kidding? A man snuggled when he wanted sex—other than that, he didn’t want anyone encroaching on his territory. Except that after sleeping alone in his king-size bed for so many months, he realized he might not object to a little encroaching. Especially if Cassie was the one invading his space.

If he closed his eyes, he could picture her there—in his bedroom, sprawled on top of the covers in the middle of his mattress, wearing nothing but a smile. He didn’t dare close his eyes.

The fact that she was acquainted with his mother and his daughter was both a comfort and a complication. If he decided to pursue a relationship with the librarian, he knew he wouldn’t face any obstacles from his family. But if he subsequently screwed up that relationship, it could be incredibly awkward for all of them.

He wasn’t looking for a one-night stand, but he wasn’t looking to fall in love, either. He had no desire to go down that path again. And while he wasn’t opposed to the idea of sharing his life with someone special, his main focus right now was Saige and what was best for his little girl.

But when he finally did sleep, it was Cassie who played the starring role in his dreams.

After she’d finished catching Irene up on all the latest happenings at the library and read a couple chapters of a new book to her, Cassie headed to the grocery store to do her weekly shopping. With her list in hand, she methodically walked up and down the aisles.